A Special Memorial Day Gift...

...I wish to share with you.

It was sent me by my Friend Christian Godefroy and I just posted it on today's entry in my other Blog, "SuccessGroup7" at:

http://slim-for-life-and-the-ids.blogspot.com

Enjoy and Have a Great, Safe Memorial Day!

Your Friend,

Jacques

Male, female fat cells different in mice

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, who studied mice say they were surprised to find major differences between male and female fat cells.

"We found that out of about 40,000 mouse genes, only 138 are commonly found in both male and female fat cells," senior author Dr. Deborah Clegg said in a statement. "This was completely unexpected. We expected the exact opposite -- that 138 would be different and the rest would be the same between the sexes."

The study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, also found male mice on a high-fat diet gained more weight and had more highly inflamed fat tissue -- especially belly fat -- than female mice eating the same diet.

However, in the female mice whose ovaries had been removed -- a condition similar to human menopause -- put on the high fat diet, weight gain was greater and more likely to be in the belly.

"Although our new findings don't explain why women begin storing fat in their bellies after menopause, the results do bring us a step closer to understanding the mechanisms behind the unwanted shift," Clegg said.

Courtesy: My Obesity Connection.com Newsletter

Will Obesity Put an End to War?

posted by Delia Quigley May 5, 2010 7:01 am

Care2 is the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world.Care2.com send We hate spam. We do not sell or share the email addresses you provide.88 comments Wow, now that sounds pretty crazy right? But last week’s headlines were too absurd to ignore as they featured the possibility that obesity might deter war! So how is that possible?

Well, first off there’s our top army brass declaring that US youngsters are too fat to fight. John Shalikashvili and Hugh Shelton, both former chairmen of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in the Washington Post that, “Obesity rates threaten the overall health of America and the future strength of our military. We consider this problem so serious from a national security perspective that we have joined more than 130 other retired generals, admirals and senior military leaders in calling on Congress to pass new child nutrition legislation.”

Take that Jamie Oliver. Bet you didn’t think by Food Revolution you were getting those young Virginians ready to fight in some future global war. What the Holistic Moms could not accomplish after years of trying, a few well-chosen words from the military commanders could soon have the school cafeterias serving brown rice and vegetables for breakfast. According to the generals this “fat crisis can rule out more potential military service recruits than any other medical factor.” I can understand that, I mean why waste a young life languishing at home on the couch eating a corn dog when he can lose his life fighting in some foreign country protecting our right to consume more goods.

No disrespect to the many fit young men and women fighting to protect us for some reason we’re no longer sure about, but THEN, get this, Michelle Obama comes along and very eloquently launches a campaign to eradicate childhood obesity. Our first lady, painfully aware that one in three children in the US are overweight or obese (Holy moly, batman!) has stated that this issue threatens America’s future. The president, who we know happens to be her husband, has asked Congress for an additional 1 billion dollars to fund school nutrition programs!

But wait, there’s more, and this is my favorite quote, the BBC’s Steve Kingstone in Washington says, one in six children in the US is considered obese and today’s children are predicted to live shorter lives than their parents. OK, whew, first let’s get the statistics right. Is it one in three or one in six? And will they die young from obesity or in a brutal war, when they could be home building community and contributing to a country that was once considered a great nation?

Now, let’s see if I got this straight. Since more than a quarter of young Americans are presently too fat to fight in a military war, Congress should appropriate 1 billion dollars to improve school meals, so that obesity can be reduced, and America will then have enough recruits to fight future wars designed to protect American corporations, er, uh, sorry, democracy. Alrighty then. It appears that it is not enough to feed our children the highest quality foods just to keep them healthy, but now that we are short on military soldiers, by all means appropriate those billions and let’s get started making America some strong fighting machines.
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Delia Quigley is the Director of StillPoint Schoolhouse, where she teaches a holistic lifestyle based on her 28 years of study, experience and practice. She is the creator of the Body Rejuvenation Cleanse, Cooking the Basics, and Broken Bodies Yoga. Delia's credentials include author, holistic health counselor, natural foods chef, yoga instructor, energy therapist and public speaker. Follow Delia's blogs: brcleanse.blogspot.com and brokenbodiesyoga.wordpress.com. To view her website go to www.deliaquigley.com

Do You Make Excuses in favor of Overeating?

5 Excuses Emotional Eaters Make

There are many excuses emotional eaters give for hanging on to their habit of overeating, even when it affects their mental and physical well-being. Below are 5 excuses that we often hear.

I'll never be as attractive as I want, so why bother dropping weight at all?
So many emotional eaters paint themselves into a corner with this one. It's defeatist thinking at its very best. It convinces you that since you won't be Tyra Banks or George Clooney after you get rid of the weight you shouldn't try at all. Just because things won't be perfect at the end of your diet, and just because you won't suddenly look like a runway model, doesn't mean something positive isn't going to happen. This excuse tries to prevent you from abandoning emotional eating by telling you that things won't work out perfectly so there's no point in trying.

I've failed before, so why try again?
Most dieters have failed to achieve their goals at some point. Either they quit their diet early, or gained the weight back after reaching their goal. These failures or relapses are often used as a justification for not trying anymore.

However, previous "failure" doesn't predict future failure. Up until now, you didn't know that emotional eating is the number one reason that diets fail. If you didn't understand emotional eating there was no way you could have succeeded permanently. With a new understanding of emotional eating you could finally have all of the tools you need to succeed. It's like a baseball player: just because he struck out the first time, it doesn't mean he didn't learn how to spot the pitchers curve-ball the next time. Just because you dropped your diet once, or hundred times before, it doesn't mean you didn't learn what it's going to take to make it this time. This excuse is really just a way to justify not trying so you can hang onto emotional eating.

I'll feel too deprived if I give up overeating!
Emotional eating is satisfying to the emotional eater. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so hard to give up. But, just because it's the only way you can feel satisfied now doesn't mean it's the only way you'll be able to feel satisfied in the future, or the only way to feel satisfied, period, as some emotional eaters believe.

Think of a smoker. They can't visualize living their life without the satisfaction of smoking. They can't face the deprivation they imagine they would feel without smoking. Of course, to a non-smoker this just seems silly. There's plenty of ways to feel satisfied without smoking. And, after a few months without cigarettes, many new non-smokers realize how little the tobacco offered in the ways of real satisfaction. Nearly all successful ex-smokers wonder what the heck they were thinking. They wonder, "Why on earth did I think I wouldn't ever feel satisfied without cigarettes?" The same is true for emotional eating and overeating. Just like smoking, these habits do offer some temporary stress relief, but at a huge cost. And just like cigarettes, once you break the habit, you begin to realize overeating is not the only way to feel satisfied in life. This excuse is really just the habit trying to convince you that there is no satisfaction outside of emotional eating and uses this as a justification to hold onto your unhealthy eating patterns.

Reducing weight won't really impact my health, so it's not worth it!
This excuse is just wrong no matter how you cut it. While reducing weight won't fix all your health problems, even eliminating a small percentage of your body weight will drastically improve your health. A small reduction in your body weight cuts your likelihood for heart disease, diabetes, sleep apnea, impotence and a whole host of other health problems.

If you catch yourself making this excuse, tell yourself that pursuing good health is not an all-or-nothing endeavor. Just because you can't avoid all health problems, doesn't mean losing even a little weight won't drastically improve your health.

Dropping weight won't fix anything...I'll still have other problems to deal with!
It's realistic to believe that reaching your goal weight won't solve all of your problems. People that expect shedding weight will solve everything set themselves up for disappointment. When you stop overeating, you'll still have to contend with your spouse or job. That's just a fact of life. When you eliminate eating as a coping mechanism, you start to learn how to tackle the real problems. You might see giving up the comfort of food as a loss but what you have to gain is being more effective in dealing with your life's challenges.

Conclusion
In all the excuses above, there is an example of black-and-white thinking. "If things can't be perfect, you shouldn't try." Believing in this all-or-nothing thinking is what gives these excuses their power. If you begin to see through this oversimplified assessment, you can begin to break these excuses down so they don't convince you to hold onto emotional eating. Just because you won't be a ideal model of health, or your life won't be perfect afterwards, doesn't mean you shouldn't pursue your goals. Don't let these excuses get in the way of a new, thinner, slimmer, healthier and happier you!

Courtesy: ShrinkYourself.com

The Big Calcium Controversy (Concluded.)

What Should I Look for in Supplements for Bone Health?
Given the vast selection, choosing a supplement for bone health can be confusing. Again, the best advice is to start with your doctor. He or she may recommend a specific type of calcium for bone health. Here are a few other things to consider when choosing and using a supplement.

Is it a brand name you recognize? Most brand name supplements should be fine, osteoporosis experts say. You can also look for the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) label, which indicates that the product has met the USP's purity requirements.


What type of calcium is it? If you look on the ingredients of calcium supplements you might see different types, like calcium carbonate and calcium citrate. Does the variety you get make a big difference? Probably not much, although vitamin experts aren't sure.

There is some evidence that calcium citrate might be more helpful for people who have low levels of stomach acid (because they take medicines for gastric reflux or other conditions.) Theoretically, calcium citrate might reduce the risk of kidney stones, Schousboe says, but he stresses that there's no real evidence to prove this so far.
Is the calcium supplement easily absorbed? Any good calcium supplements for bone health should be easy for your body to absorb. But supplements that are liquid or chewable are often the easiest to take in, since they're broken down before you swallow them.


Should you take your calcium supplement with food?
Generally, calcium carbonate should be taken with food, while calcium citrate can be taken with or without food. Taking some calcium supplements on an empty stomach may increase the risk of kidney stones, Schousboe says.


Does your calcium supplement cause side effects?
Some people find that calcium supplements can cause side effects like gas or constipation. You may be able to control these problems by taking your supplement with more water, or upping the fiber in your diet. If this doesn't help, try a different supplement.


Does your calcium supplement contain other ingredients?
Many calcium supplements for bone health also include other vitamins and minerals, like vitamin D. Is it better to get your vitamin D in the same pill as your calcium? It doesn't make any difference. Just keep track of what you're getting. If you're taking multiple supplements and aren't careful enough, you could get excessive doses of vitamin D.


Will you need more than one supplement a day?
In general, vitamin experts recommend taking no more than 500 milligrams of calcium at once. Why? Your body can only absorb so much calcium at one time. Going over 500 milligrams at once won't give you the full benefits of the calcium.

So for instance, if you need to take 1,000 milligrams, your doctor might recommend splitting up the dose into 500 milligrams twice a day.
As for other distinctions among calcium supplements, they don't really matter. Although some manufacturers claim that coral calcium -- made from exotic fossilized coral reefs -- has benefits over other formulas, the experts are unconvinced.

"Many of us just think it's a clever marketing ploy and nothing more," says Schousboe. "But if people feel better taking coral calcium, that's fine. What's important is that they get enough calcium. If they waste a little money doing it, that's OK."

What Else Do I Need to Know About Supplements for Bone Health?
Of course, lots of other supplements are hawked as bone strength boosters for people battling osteoporosis. But do they work?

"On the whole, there's just not a lot of good data on other supplements for bone health," says Amin.

So far, the evidence isn't persuasive. While other minerals play a role in absorbing calcium, like magnesium and phosphorus, deficiencies are quite rare. So you probably don't need to worry about them.

Schousboe is skeptical of other alternative bone-strengthening supplements, like cod liver oil. "There's no real evidence that the oils are important themselves," he tells WebMD. "The oil just contains vitamin D, and I think there are better ways to get it." While some phytoestrogens (plant compounds that have estrogen-like effects) -- found in soy, flaxseed, and other plants -- have shown some benefit in studies of bone health, their risks aren't clear yet.

"Given the association between estrogen compounds and blood clots," says Schousboe, "I think we need to be very careful and wait for convincing data about phytoestrogens." For good bone health, go with the basics, say osteoporosis experts.

"I usually just recommend that people stick to getting adequate calcium and vitamin D and eating a good, healthy diet," Amin tells WebMD. That simple advice can go a long way toward keeping your bones strong and your life healthy and active.

Courtesy; WebMD.com newsletter